Florida moved its poorest seniors to managed long-term care. Hospitalizations rose 4%.

Florida changed how it pays for long-term care for its poorest seniors, shifting to managed care plans. It turns out this change led to a 4.2% increase in hospitalizations for these seniors.

Many states are moving their long-term care programs to managed care, hoping to improve outcomes or save money. This paper shows that for Florida's poorest seniors, this shift actually led to more hospital stays, possibly because they received less preventive care like flu shots. This means states cannot assume that simply moving to a managed care model will automatically improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations. They must now consider the specific design and oversight of these programs more carefully.